


stand here until i fill all your heart's desires

by serenitysea



Series: i'm gonna buy this place and start a fire [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feels, Love, Recovery, Romance, Snark, lumberjack dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 18:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5058862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysea/pseuds/serenitysea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>what happens after you sleep with the man who helps you put yourself back together?</p><p>that's what skye would like to know, too.</p><p>(spoiler alert: you keep sleeping with him.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	stand here until i fill all your heart's desires

**Author's Note:**

> based off the prompt: _Moments after the second installment in "i'm gonna buy this place and start a fire._

She has horrible nightmares.

Twice now Ward has woken up to find a knife to his throat.

Skye comes back to herself after he’s called her name with enough steel and _promise_ to shatter the horror painted in her mind. She drops the knife like it is on fire, like it’s dripping poison that can contaminate by touch alone – and nether of them remark on the tears she can’t hide.

He tucks the knife away in the set of drawers on his side of the bed and pulls her back to him with the kind of grip that forces them both back to the here and now with jarring gratification.

*

 _They_ say the road to recovery is hard.

 _They_ say that, and they don’t know anything about missing parents or murderous rages, or your world being shattered to pieces while you stand back helpless to watch it crumble.

 _They_ really have no idea. 

*

When Skye wakes up the next morning, Ward is curved around her like an anchor.

She knows where she is.

She knows the calloused hand that curls around a set of ribs and the leg thrown over her hip.

She knows where she is, and for right now, it is enough.

*

“I was thinking,” Ward places milk and two bowls on the table in front of her, “That we could work on a project today.”

Skye frowns at the no-nonsense shredded wheat cereal and desperately wishes he’d at least have the frosted kind by the next time she comes back.

Then she immediately tries to distract herself because thinking of a _next time_ is enough to make her stomach want to revolt in fear and she finds herself blindly agreeing to whatever he wants just to take her mind off things.

“Great. So we’ll start after breakfast.” Ward seems all too pleased with her decision and she privately wonders why he’s not more phased at their current situation.

*

Standing before them is the biggest tree she’s ever seen.

“You want to do _what_?”

“Build a shed. There’s lumber right here. We’ll probably need to go into town and rent some heavy duty equipment –”

(Skye is _not_ ashamed to admit where her mind goes when those words come out of his mouth)

“– but the manual labor will do us both good and honestly, it needs to be done before the cold front sets in.”

She rubs the corner of her eye and hopes the twitching is not too noticeable. When he favors her with look of reprimand, she confesses, “ _Yes_ , okay, I did sneak an extra two cups of coffee. _God_.”

There is a beat of silence and then she adds: “I’m probably going to need it, since you’re determined to wear me out with your lumberjack dreams.”

The grin that spreads across his face can accurately be described as _wolfish_. “Skye. My lumberjack dreams of wearing you out are entirely more preferable than this.”

(She has pine needle scratches in _unmentionable_ places – but god, is it ever worth it.)

*

Ward isn’t surprised that Skye wormed her way out of building just after lunchtime, citing that she would much rather snoop through the house.

Had he anything to worry about, it might have been an alarming excuse – but it’s Skye, and he doesn’t have anything to hide from her anymore – so he lets her run with the idea like she’s getting one over on him.

He doesn’t say that it’s the first time he’s seen a hint of the girl she was when they first met. He doesn’t say that the quicksilver grin on her face suits her so much more than the grave stillness she’s perfected over the past few months.

He knows his part in forming the person she is now – and he will help her come back to who she wants to be if it’s the last thing he does.

A little humiliation of having his underwear drawer sorted through is absolutely worth the sacrifice.

(And Skye has known about his preference for black boxer-briefs since their days on the Bus, so that’s nothing new.)

*

She spills tomato sauce on her shirt mid-tasting, swearing loudly when it seeps though and is hot enough to burn the skin underneath. By the time she’s got it pulled over her head, Ward is racing through the front door looking like a man possessed.

“Can I… _help_ you?” Skye is a firm believer in retaining one’s dignity, no matter the clothing (or lack thereof) on one’s person.

Ward takes in her state of disarray with a lift of an eyebrow, then notes the large pot of sauce cooking on the stove with an appreciative sniff. “How much longer?”

Skye is somewhat amazed that they’ve been able to keep their hands off each other thus far and grabs the counter for balance (that look in his eyes should be _illegal_ ) as she dazedly answers, “Another hour or so.”

“Good.” Ward marches over, woodchips and debris shaking free with every step and slings her over his shoulder. “I was wondering if I could persuade you to scrub my back.”

She’s so busy shrieking at the manhandling and trying not admire the way his shirt clings damply from the hard work performed outside that it comes as a total surprise when he crowds her into the shower and the water drenches them both.

*

They eat dinner by candlelight – not because it is romantic, although that is definitely a side benefit – but because he doesn’t have much by the way of lighting wired through the house yet.

“It’s only ever been just me, so.” Ward shrugs uncomfortably. “There was never any need.”

“Hey.” Skye reaches out and threads their fingers together. “This is fine. A little sappy for you, especially since you know I’m already a safe bet, but –”

“ _Skye_ ,” He warns, sounding outraged on her behalf.

“– That’s okay! I appreciate the details, all right?”

Ward sets down his wineglass with a distinct _click_ and watches her with a seriousness that makes her want to fidget. “You’re worth a lot more than some half-assed details.”

She has to fight past the lump of emotion in her throat. “Well, I don’t know about that –”

“Skye.”

And it isn’t _just_ the stern gaze of her former SO in his eyes or the soft tenderness of the lover she’s taken into her bed. It’s the unshakable faith of the man who believes in her when she’d lost the faith she had in herself that has the humor dying on her tongue.

It’s _all_ of those things, and the certainty that he will not allow her to make self-deprecating remarks – not about this.

“Thank you.”

*

She doesn’t get nightmares as frequently – though they’re not entirely banished.

She has two bad days for every good one.

Her moods are unpredictable at _best_ and she’s been known to throw his best set of dishes against the wall or take a rifle to his favorite bottles of wine when she’s really angry.

But their shed gets built.

When the cold front sets in – just like Ward promised – they watch the snow falling on the roof and yard outside like a picture out of a dream she’d had in what feels like a lifetime ago.

He kisses her and the world outside still exists.

And Skye knows _exactly_ where she is.

* * *

_ask me[for anything on fic amnesty day](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com/post/131752503915/fic-amnesty-day)!_

**Author's Note:**

> \+ [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com).


End file.
